One-on-one coaching
Establishing trust, communication, and shared goals.
Child Aid literacy trainers visit teachers in their classrooms multiple times after each workshop.
During these one-on-one coaching sessions, trainers model new techniques with students, offer suggestions, and answer questions. Child Aid trainers adapt their coaching to fit the needs of individual teachers, depending on each educator’s knowledge of literacy instruction. Since most teachers in Guatemala have never had a coach in their classroom, Child Aid trainers make it clear from the beginning that their role is not to supervise or monitor, but to support the educators and help them improve.
Coaching is fundamental to Child Aid’s success in helping teachers gain the knowledge and skills needed to improve their instruction.
Learning and mastering new skills is hard and requires guided practice and support. One-on-one coaching is effective because it turns learning into a collaborative process.
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Teachers tell us that Child Aid’s approach to coaching is like nothing they’ve experienced before. Our approach not only provides educators with useful knowledge and techniques, it also makes them feel respected and valued as professionals.
Sponsor A Teacher
It takes a lot to put a teacher through three years of career changing training. One way we do this with the support of individual donors, who sponsor a teacher.
Teachers report students are more enthusiastic readers and understand better what they’ve read. Kids participate more in classroom activities and exhibit improved skills, especially vocabulary, writing, and an ability to ask questions and express ideas.
We estimate that 10% of teachers (and students!) in Guatemala have benefitted from Child Aid’s program.
That is an impressive number, but clearly there is more to be done! Child Aid is working diligently to grow our program and introduce our model of teacher training and literacy instruction to more schools and communities each year. We are advocating for country wide reform and are committed to the growth and development of the regional offices that make this work possible.
Since 2010, Child Aid teachers have taught more than 192,000 students to read and write, helping them become life-long learners.